Safety feed apparatus foe steam-boilers



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LUGIUS J. KNOVLES, OF VARREN, MASSACHUSETTS.

SAFETY FEED APPARATUS FOR STEAM-BOILERS.

Specication of Letters Patent No. 27,45%, dated March 13,Y 1860.

To all 'whom i may concern:

Be it known that I, L. J. KNowLEs, of IVarren, in the county of forcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improved Safety Feed Apparatus for Steam-Boilers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure l, is a side elevation of a steam boiler with my improved apparatus attached. Fig. 2, a similar elevation of a portion of the apparatus showing the parts in a different position.

I am aware that a hollow counterbalanced ball or globe has been brought into communication with the interior of the boiler by means of tubes so arranged that when the water in the boiler rises above a certain level the globe shall be filled with water and descend and when the water falls below this point the globe shall be filled with steam and shall rise, and that it has been proposed to employ such device for the purpose either of regulating the feed of steam engine boilers, or of sounding an alarm in case of the descent of the water to a level beneath which it would not be safe for it to fall. But such apparatus would be of no practical value, and would only prove a source of danger, as it would fail to give notice of any derangeinent of the pumps, and if such apparatus were applied to sound an alarm on the descent of the water if unaccompanied by any means of regulatino' the pumps, would be of very limited va ue.

My invention has for its object to ac complish the double purpose of regulating the feed and of sounding an alarm should the pumps become deranged, and my invention consists in the employment of two hollow globes or balls, so connected with the boiler that the one shall regulate the action of the feed pump, and the other give notice of the failure of the pump to act. So long therefore as the pumps continue in order they will unerringly and automatically maintain the water within the boiler at the exact level required and should the pump from any cause whatever become unfaithful, the alarm will be sounded and notice of the danger will instantly be given.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand my invention I will proceed to describe the manner in which I have carried it out.

In the accompanying drawings A, is a steam boiler; B, the level at which the water is to be maintained within the boiler.

From a standard C, near the boiler rises Ythe hollow guide rod D, upon which slides the hollow balls or globes E, F, the former of which is counter-balanced by a weight G upon one end of a cord or chain H, which passes over guide rolls f and g and has its opposite extremity attached to a short rod (seen dotted in Fig. 1,) a pin y passes through the rod m and also through slots in the hollow rod D, and upon this pin the ball E rests.

The weight G is such with reference to that of the ball E that when the ball is filled with water it shall be heavier than the weight, and when the ball is filled with steam it shall be lighter than the weight.

The ball E, is brought into communication with the interior of the boiler by means of two flexible tubes I and K, the former entering the boiler at a point z' immediately below the water line the tube K, entering at any point still lower down. The tube I, enters the top and the tube K, the bottom of the ball E. The ball' F likewise communicates with the boiler by means of two flexible metallic tubes L and O. rlhe tube L entering the boiler at a point a, beneath that at which the tube I, enters and the tube o, at any point still lower down. The ball F is counterbalanced by a` weight I), with which it is connected by a cord or chain passing over pulleys h and e. The weight PV is such with respect to the weight and dimensions of the ball F that when this ball is lled with water it shall descend and the weight shall rise, and when it is filled with steam it shall rise and the weight shall descend.

The tubes I, K, L, and O, are made from preference of hard brass, but they may be made of any material that will stand the pressure of the steam, and will be sufiiciently flexible not to prevent the rise and fall of the balls upon the guide rod D.

The ball E is so connected with the feed pump or with the mechanism which controls it that when it rises it shall open the valve or start the pump, and when it descends it shall close the valve or stop the pump. This may be effected in a variety of ways for instance the cord I-I, may be so connected with the belt shipper as to move the belt which drives the pump from a fast to a loose pulley when the ball E descends and from the loose to the fast pulley when the ball rises, but these details form no part of my present invention and need not be further described.

Operation: Starting with the water within the boiler upon a level with the line B, immediately above the point at which the tube I, enters the boiler. The balls E,.and F will both be filled with water and will descend as seen in Fig. l, and their counterbalancing weights Gr and I), will be raised. The descent of the ball E, will have moved the belt shipper or in some other way have stopped the operation of the pump which will remain out of operation until the water within the boiler descends below the mouth of the tube I, when the steam entering the globe E, will displace the water within the ball and allow it to {iow back into the boiler by the tube K. The ball E, will now rise and the pump be again set in operation. On the water again rising within the boiler so as to prevent the entrance of steam into the tube I, the steam within the ball E, will be condensed and it-splace supplied by water from the boiler, when this ball will again descend andthe operation of the pump be stopped. The pump will thus bc stopped and started at short intervals as the water within the boiler vacillates above or below the mouth of the tube I and the water level will be maintained at the desired.

pump without giving notice of its failure to act would prove a source of danger instead of safety, if trusted to by the engineer. To supply this deficiency the ball F, with its tubes L and O, is emplo ed and should the water from failure of t e pumps to act descend beneath the level at which the tube L enters the boiler, the water within the ball F, will immediately be replaced by steam and this ball will rise-when this takes place the weight P will descend and open the whistle m and sound the alarm.

The construction which I have described above is that which I prefer and which I have adopted with success in carrying out my invention but it is obvious that the details of the apparatus may be varied without departure from its spirit, for examplethe tubes K and O, might be dispensed with, the tubes I, and L alone being retained, but in such case these tubes must necessarily enter the bottom of the balls E and F, and in lieu of arranging the balls as here arranged upon the same vertical rod D, it is evident that they may be arranged at any convenient level and upon opposite sides of the boiler, in every case however it is essential that the tube or tubes which communicate with the ball which sounds the alarm should enter the boiler at a level beneath that at which the tube from the other ball enters it. It is also manifest that the whistle m in lieu of being placed upon the ball E may be put upon any part of the boiler and be operated by the rise of the ball F.

I do not claim the employment of a single hollow counterbalanced ball which acts by its difference in weight when filled with water or with steam to regulate a feed pump or to sound an alarm but liVhat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is The combination of the balls E and F, placed outside and communicating with the boiler at different levels beneath the water line and so arranged as to operate successively the one to regulate the pump and the other to operate the whistle as set forth.

LUCIUS J. KNOVLES.

Vitnesses SAM J. COOPER, THos. L. GLOVER. 

